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March Books Plus

Our March Books Plus will be special because Wendy Rubin will be leading a discussion on the book so many Bloomingtonians are reading, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Not only is it our 2013 One Book One Bloomington selection but it's a dystopian novel that focuses on the treatment of women.

This novel offers so many interesting questions to discuss, what makes a theocratic society, can women really be revered when they are policed by men, and how does dividing women into hierarchies based on their domestic tasks affect society. It's basically a book about good and evil. In one passage, Margaret Atwood said, "The moment of betrayal is the worst, the moment when you know beyond any doubt that you've been betrayed: that some other human being has wished you that much evil."

Atwood wrote this novel in 1984-85 while living in West Berlin which was still surrounded by the wall. She handwrote the novel then transcribed it. She later said that the book offered two possible futures, and that either one could have happened. Looking back at it after nearly thirty years, do you find elements of the book still mirrored in our country?

Please join us for a fascinating discussion on a great 20th century book that is still being censored today. For information on this and future programs, please see below.

Books Plus meets the first Sunday of each month. All are welcome. Join the discussion or simply come to listen.

Join us for a discussion of the 2013 One Book One Bloomington! In this dark vision of a future United States, the handmaid Offred is defined solely by her biological function as a child-bearer. Forbidden even to read, she tries to survive in oppressive and dangerous circumstances. The novel explores themes of power, gender conflict, the individual in society, language and storytelling.

For over five hundred years, poets have written enduring sonnets about love, friendship, death, and nature. In only fourteen lines, authors have shared their views of the world. From Shakespeare and Petrarch to modern poets such as Billy Collins, Rita Dove, and Carol Ann Duffy, the sonnet has continued to amaze and inspire. In honor of National Poetry Month please come explore the kind of poem that Dante Gabriel Rossetti called the "moment's monument." If you don't like the tight rhyming structure of the old sonnets, we will include some contemporary ones in modern language. Please bring a poem to share--a favorite of yours--either a sonnet or one in another format that you love.

May 5Forgotten Garden by Kate MortonDiscussion Leader: Luann Dillon

From 1913 to today, from England to Australia and back again, generations of a family keep their secrets guarded and their gardens locked.